Recently, the Innovation Team of Honeybee proteomics from Institute of Apicultural Research (IAR) of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) has made a breakthrough on the embryogenesis of the honeybee drone. The research paper “Proteome analysis unravels mechanism underling the embryogenesis of the honeybee drone and its divergence with the worker (Apis mellifera lingustica)” has published on the Journal of Proteome Research, details are available on the link bellow: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jproteome.5b00625.

It is the 11th reports from the Honeybee proteomics team on this journal. The worker and drone bees each contain a separate diploid and haploid genetic makeup, respectively. Mechanisms regulating the embryogenesis of the drone and its mechanistic difference with the worker are still poorly understood. 

In this study, the proteomes of the two embryos at three time-points throughout development were analyzed by applying mass spectrometry-based proteomics. They identified 2788 and 2840 proteins in the worker and drone embryos, respectively. The age-dependent proteome driving the drone embryogenesis generally follows the worker’s. The two embryos however evolve a distinct proteome setting to prime their respective embryogenesis. The strongly expressed proteins and pathways related to transcriptional–translational machinery and morphogenesis at 24h drone embryo relative to the worker, illustrating the earlier occurrence of morphogenesis in the drone than worker. These morphogenesis differences remain through to the middle–late stage in the two embryos. The two embryos employ distinct antioxidant mechanisms coinciding with the temporal-difference organogenesis. The drone embryo’s strongly expressed cytoskeletal proteins signify key roles to match its large body size. The RNAi induced knockdown of the ribosomal protein offers evidence for the functional investigation of gene regulating of honeybee embryogenesis. 

This work significantly expands novel regulatory mechanisms governing the embryogenesis, which is potentially important for honeybee and other insects.